New York City fast-food workers win scheduling rights

The mayor of New York has signed a package of bills benefitting some 65,000 fast food workers, the key component of which is a requirement that fast food restaurants schedule their workers at least two weeks in advance or pay extra for shift changes. The legislation, strongly supported by the IUF-affiliated SIEU and leaders of the FightFor15 campaign, also ensures that fast food workers have breaks of at least 11 hours between shifts and are given the option of working additional hours before their employers hire extra workers.

With several states and municipalities having increased their minimum wages to as high as USD 15 an hour in recent years, scheduling in the often unstable fast-food sector has now become the key issue for unions and advocates for the rights of low-wage workers.